Horniman Museum and Gardens

The Horniman has a unique range of exhibitions, events and activities which illustrate the cultural and natural world. Our collections of anthropology, natural history and musical instruments provide the inspiration for our programme of permanent and temporary exhibitions and events and activities. A full range of events and activities take place for different audiences including storytelling and art and craft sessions for children, and courses and workshops for adults.

This museum has Designated Collections of national importance.

Venue Type:

Museum, Garden, parklands or rural site

Opening hours

Open daily: 1030-1730

Admission charges

Free admissiont to Museum & Gardens.Charge for Aquarium and some temporary exhibitions and events.

Getting there

Nearest station: Forest Hill

Additional info

Our library is open to the public by appointment only.

The Ethnography and Music collections are Designated Collections of national importance.

The Museum holds in total some 350,000 objects and related items. The Horniman has three main collections, World Cultures (Ethnography) comprising 80,000 objects, Natural History with 250,000 specimens, and Music with over 7,000 instruments plus 1,000 archive documents. There is also a parallel education handling collection which has over 3,700 objects drawn from all three main disciplines and a library collection with texts and related items covering the main collection areas.

The Museum also has an active collecting policy with regular fieldwork to acquire new objects and to find out more about existing ones carried out by curators. Over 90% of the collections of Ethnography and Music have been acquired since the original bequest by Frederick Horniman in 1901. Most objects not currently on display are held in storage at the Museum's Study Collection Centre in Greenwich, while the Museum also loans objects to other institutions for exhibitions.

Key artists and exhibits

Designated Collection

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

Exhibition (temporary)

The Robot Zoo

11 February — 29 October 2017 *on now

This family friendly exhibition features larger-than-life animals recreated in robot form, using a variety of machine parts and gadgets to reveal how their real life counterparts see, eat, hunt and hide. Interactive exhibits also give you the chance to try jet-propelled squid racing, shoot a chameleon's 'tongue-gun' and even design your own 'mutant' robot creature.

Website

India Unplugged

20 May 2017 — 7 January 2018 *on now

The featured musicians were photographed during a project to document disappearing music and instruments in India, at a time of rapid change, between 2000 and 2007. The ‘Traditional Music in India’ project was run by the British Library Sound Archive and the Horniman. It aimed to reflect aspects of the cultural and musical diversity of India.

Suitable for

Family friendly

Admission

Free

Website

Pani

20 May — 26 November 2017 *on now

Using symbols drawn on terracotta water containers and vibrant maps, Artsit Daksha Patel draws attention to the environmental threats facing rivers and water courses, and the challenges encountered by the people and wildlife that depend upon this most precious resource.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Coral: Fabric of the Reef

9 December 2017 — 9 September 2018

Inspired by the Museum’s Aquarium and Natural History collection, artist Karen Dodd uses woollen fabric – dyed and sculpted, and intricately bound and stitched – to draw attention to coral and coral reefs, simultaneously celebrating their beauty and raising awareness of their vulnerability in the face of increasing environmental change.

Getting there

Website

E-mail

Telephone

020 8699 1872

Fax

020 8291 5506

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.